Eni Norge has won the 2013 Emergency Preparedness Award for Innovation and Development. The award was announced in Stavanger on Wednesday 29 May during the annual Emergency Preparedness Conference. Eni Norge receives the award in recognition of its leading role in the development of new survival suits adapted for use in the Barents Sea.

The award criteria state that the Emergency Preparedness Award for Innovation and Development shall be given to a person or organisation which displays an outstanding ability to contribute towards improved emergency preparedness and response initiatives. The award is primarily dedicated to new concepts and technical systems. Work to develop the new survival suits was headed by Eni Norge, but companies such as Dong Energy, Nexen Inc. and Total also made a contribution during the first phase of the project and thus received the award jointly with Eni Norge.

“The four companies have participated in the exemplary development of a new type of survival suit designed for operations in the southern Barents Sea”, says Ketil Karlsen, Technical Director for HSE Offshore at the trades union Industri Energi. “They have achieved this by working together in a trusting relationship with their respective employees’ organisations”, he says. “With my own experience of winter operations in the Barents Sea, and as representative of a trades union with members in this industry, it was only natural that I should nominate Eni Norge and its partners Dong Energy, Nexen Inc. and Total for this award”, says Karlsen.

Karlsen himself sits on the Programme Committee for the Emergency Preparedness Conference, and adds that the committee was unanimous in its decision.